CREDIT: CROWBAR COLLECTIVE
As far as fan remakes go, Black Mesa Source blows everything out of the water - or the air.

While remakes in the cinematic world are often controversial –different contemporary styles and key creatives have the potential to butcher their source materials – video game remakes have a lot more potential for success. They have more potential success not just by giving titles a fresh new coat of paint, but by fixing bugs and glitches as well as bringing worthy classics to new platforms in a fully- playable manner.

Here are some remakes that are worth your time for not only making a great game accessible again but for also breathing new life into them altogether.

Black Mesa: Source

This entry bears the unique distinction of being a complete fan remake. Now, fan remakes, translations, patches, re-edits, remakes and so on are nothing new as a concept. However, Black Mesa: Source is worth your attention for three reasons: for being a near-complete remake of Valve’s revolutionary first person shooter Half-Life; for its long development time of eight years; and, most importantly, for just how incredible it is, not as being a fan-based effort, but in its own right. Black Mesa: Source effortlessly captures what made the original Half-Life great. Its horror – kicked up a notch thanks to advanced lighting from the Source engine – its humour – the beer Barney the security guard never buys you – and its thrilling roller-coaster experience – even further enhanced thanks to shorter loading times.

Super Mario All Stars!

As far as multi-carts go, nearly nothing beats Super Mario All Stars! for sheer quality content. Packed in the Super Nintendo cartridge were full-fledged graphical remakes of not just all NES Mario games (Super Mario Bros. 1-3), but it also even included a strange beast, The Lost Levels. Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels are a remake of the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2, an entirely different game from the North American/European beast.

Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes

Nothing related to Metal Gear Solid escapes the sight of series creator and stickler to details, Hideo Kojima (and anything that does escape his sight isn’t common). So it’s little surprise that this Game- Cube-based remake of his seminal PlayStation game Metal Gear Solid would be put together under his eyes. Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes is more than just a remake, however, updating the gameplay to fit that of its predecessor, Metal Gear Solid 2 – with mixed results. Even the original cast reprised their roles to re-record dialogue in higher quality. Funnily enough, you’ll have an easier time buying the original PlayStation game on the PlayStation Network Store than tracking down the GameCube disc of this remake.